I’ve been Inspired by Carly

If you read last month’s Inspired, you’ll know all about Carly Humphreys-Surry. The Braintree-based personal trainer, who I ‘met’ over Twitter last year, invited me over for a session before Christmas, and we’ve never quite managed to synchronise diaries…until recently, that is.

If I’m honest, there could have been a touch of scaredy-cat about my procrastination. I’m not the fittest of bunnies, and the thought of being put through my paces by a super-fit personal trainer made me feel more than a little bit of trepidation. But I needn’t have worried.

Carly took me to her studio in Braintree, based in a converted garage, and we got talking about my goals. She’s instantly likeable, and there’s nothing remotely sergeant-majorish about her. I admitted that my own gym journey had come to an abrupt end when I’d moved house last year, and I hadn’t done much other than the occasional swim and a bit of walking since about September.

Carly took me for a brisk walk outside to warm up and chat – then decided that as one of my goals was to improve my time when I run (OK, when I walk) Race for Life in June, she’d test my fitness by seeing how long it took me to walk/jog/run 1.5 miles on the treadmill. We never did find out as I accidentally pulled the emergency stop cord out at 20 minutes, while I was swinging my arms a little bit too enthusiastically. Carly seems to think I was doing OK though, and 20 minutes on the treadmill was quite a workout anyway…!

Carly is qualified to teach Power Plate and ViPR as well as other fitness disciplines, and so I tested out both. The ViPR is deceptively simple to use, but I could definitely feel its effects the following day. The Power Plate is also simple but effective – anyone who tells you that using a Power Plate is exercise with no effort should try one and see if that changes their mind!.

I went away feeling as if I’d done a good session – and Carly promised to let me have a plan of action so that I could get started on my fitness journey. I also want to reduce my blood pressure, although it’s not unhealthily high, it’s crept up in the last couple of years – and get my resting heart rate down. I’ll let you know how I get on!

Inspired Essex’ very own Editor Sarah Clark joined me for an Initial Consultation as she has decided she wants to get fitter for 2012. By incorporating some exercise in her daily life, she will not only improve her health, but also reduce stress levels.

As part of the consultation, we “walked & talked” in the fresh air (I like to take every opportunity to be outside if the British weather allows), discussed her lifestyle, work commitments & reasons for wanting to exercise. Then we agreed realistic goals that Sarah could undertake in her own time. As one of her targets is to improve her time for the “Race for Life”, we carried out a brief cardiovascular fitness test to use as a starting point for her to work from. I also introduced her to the importance of resistance training – she experienced some good vibes on the Power-Plate and “cut some shapes” with a ViPR. She was a very willing and able participant – I think she surprised herself!

By using the services of a personal trainer, Sarah now has 3 defined SMART goals to work towards. I have structured a program she can utilise from home…..but that doesn’t mean I won’t be checking up on her at regular intervals. Lets’ see how she gets on – over to you Sarah! Best of luck.

Carly (Inspired by Carly)

For more information on Personal Training with me, either as a one-off Initial Consultation or ongoing, please visit www.inspiredbycarly.co.uk